Jose Altuve arrived at Minute Maid Park for opening day in no mood to waste time wondering if the Astros will snap their streak of three consecutive 100-loss seasons. He’s more interested in focusing on the victories.

“We’re not talking anymore about how many games we’re not going to lose,” he said. “We’re talking about how many games we’re going to win.”

Altuve and the Astros officially turned the page on a miserable 2013 by opening 2014 with a 6-2 victory Tuesday night over Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees before a sellout crowd of 42,117.

After Dexter Fowler led off the first with a double to center and advanced to third on Robbie Grossman’s fly out to right, Altuve drove in the Astros’ first run of the season with a single through the left side.

“He’s going to take an aggressive at-bat all the time,” Fowler said of Altuve. “That’s what we ask from him. And he’s right— you got to keep your eye on the positive and not the negative.”

Altuve then stole second, reached third on a passed ball and scored on Jason Castro’s fielder’s choice grounder to first. Jesus Guzman made it 4-0 with a two-run homer.

Altuve added an RBI double to right in the second inning to cap the scoring in the two-run frame.

“If you’re going out there worrying about not losing, you already automatically let the thought of losing go into your head,” Altuve said. “If you’re saying, ‘OK, guys, let’s go win,’ that positive attitude is going to make sure that you don’t go out there and play scared.

“You’re going to go out and win and not play defensively. I think that mindset is very important.”

At only 23 years old, Altuve was the second-youngest player in the Astros’ opening-day lineup and the third-youngest on the 25-man roster. Yet, he’s one of the most experienced players on the young club. To a large extent, he is the face of the Astros.

An All-Star in 2012, Altuve joins 2013 All-Star Jason Castro as the two players the Astros expect to serve as anchors this season and beyond.

In case there were any doubts from cynics who wondered why the Astros would bat him third in the lineup, the 5-6 Altuve wasted no time making an impact. Altuve drove in a career-high 52 runs in 2013, which was his second full major league season. The Astros will need him to raise that RBI total this year in order to help the franchise move closer toward respectability.

He’ll also be counted upon as a leader in the clubhouse as the Astros attempt to change the losing culture that has crept in while the franchise finished with the worst record in baseball for three consecutive seasons.

“Having Altuve going out there and do the things he does, he’s tremendous at what he does,” said L.J. Hoes, who led off the second inning with a home run to left field. “To go out there and drive runs in, it kind of gets us amped. He’s been here for a little while, so he kind of knows what to expect.”

More importantly, Altuve wants to change the expectations around Minute Maid Park.

He and his teammates are tired of discussing the 111 losses the Astros suffered in 2013. Opening day is a time for optimism, and for one night at least, the 2014 Astros proved their critics wrong.

“I think that hit gave everybody confidence,” Chris Carter said of Altuve’s first RBI. “It let everybody go back up there and know that we’re going to go out and score and we’re going to win this game.”